Writing Prompt - You need to forget that boy
by chaosfay
Summary: Ghanima is coming to terms with Solas leaving. Her pregnancy is making it more difficult, but with Bull's help she finally knows what to do.


Writing Prompt - You need to forget that boy.

It'd been two months since Solas's disappearance, two months since their victory against Chorypheus, two months since Leliana found her on the ramparts looking over the horizon while everyone else was getting drunk and celebrating.

Nearly three months since she discovered she was pregnant.

She hadn't told Solas, wanting to share the news with him as a surprise. He broke her heart before she told him. The hurt and anger left a bitter taste in her mouth. She kept the pregnancy a secret, but Iron Bull and Leliana were masters of body language. They knew something was wrong, something had changed. It seemed both of them had attributed it to Solas breaking off their relationship as lovers.

When the final battle was over Ghanima had been so tempted to tell him, but her anger was still too powerful for her to share that with him. She regretted it now. Maybe he would have stayed? She'll never know now.

The signs of the pregnancy were beginning to show. Her standard clothing she wore around Skyhold was too snug now. She didn't have many practical dresses to wear, but King Alistair had recently sent a few that would suit her needs. Fereldans were remarkably practical. Vivienne, of course, disapproved, commenting on how she looked more like a peasant than the high ranking noble everyone considered her to be.

After a rather long meeting with a noble from Orlais she decided to take a walk around Skyhold. Orlesians did nothing but piss her off to say the least. The whole mess with their civil war and keeping Celene on the throne was enough for her. Now they kept arriving, wanting to bask in her victory. Vivienne and Leliana had been correct about that, but she had learned a few things since encountering the foolish people, such as how to make them feel small in the most polite way. That's how she had managed to end most of the meetings with these nobles.

Now Ghanima walked the ramparts again, enjoying the quiet and illusion of freedom the horizon and winds brought.

"You need to forget about him, Ghanima." Iron Bull came to stand beside her, as she looked at the scar in the sky.

"I can't." Her hands instinctively covered the small swell of her belly. The gesture wasn't lost of Iron Bull.

The look of surprise on his face was genuine, unguarded. "Ah, I see." He cleared his throat, looking unusually nervous.

Ghanima looked up at him, smiling for what seemed the first time in a long while. "You've never been around pregnant women, have you?" She was thoroughly amused now.

"Uh, no. I don't play a role in anything other than helping to make the baby. Nothing more." He chuckled, smiling now. "I guess being Tal-Vashoth will include much more than I had expected beyond making my own choices." Now he was laughing.

"I would appreciate you not sharing this information. The last thing I want is more Orlesians showing up with gifts even more useless than the fancy dresses, ridiculous shoes, and disgusting food I have no use for." She practically spat as she spoke of the Orlesians.

He smiled softly at her now, "I'm good at keeping secrets, you don't need to worry. You do, however, need to forget about him. Leliana has done her best to find him, and what she found-"

"-makes more sense than you think." She closed her eyes, remembering the night he removed her tattoos. "More than you can possibly imagine." Tears flowed down her face, her voice remaining even with great effort. "I had suspected for awhile, but never said anything. I wanted him to tell me; I didn't want to force the issue." She could hear her voice starting to break. "Then I was too angry, too hurt, to say anything."

"What do you mean it makes sense?" Bull turned her around to look her in the eye. "What did you suspect?"

"He was so much as walking the Fade as telling us what he knew, personally, from experience." She wiped the tears from her cheeks, though more flowed down. "Do you know the legends and stories about how my people were once immortal?"

"They're just stories, though, nothing more."

"No! Solas is proof of that!" Her anger now bubbled to the surface, and Ghanima didn't care now. "He is one of them. Not just an apostate, but one of the Ancients!" She looked down at her hands caressing her belly before looking up at Bull again. "Did you not notice his pendant?"

"A wolf's jaw. What of it? I thought it was just some superstitious talisman or something. Nothing remarkable." The confusion on Bull's face was something Ghanima had never seen more, and likely something Bull didn't like to feel.

"The wolf is Fen'harel's symbol. He is who we call The Dread Wolf."

"Wait. You're telling me Solas is this guy? He's the one your people fear?"

Ghanima merely nodded before looking to the scar marking the place of the final battle, a visual reminder of what was, what could have been. "I cannot forget him if I tried. He lives in legend, in me, in the child I now carry." She returned her gaze to Bull now. "Forgetting him is an impossibility."

Iron Bull knelt down, taking Ghanima into his arms as she shook with crying. "Then don't forget him. Make him regret leaving you. He walks the Fade, he sees memories." He pulled away, wiping the tears from her face gently as she looked at him, surprised. "He may return here. It may be a long time before that happens. If he's immortal it may be centuries. Make him regret missing every minute without you by his side. If he returns here and does his thing he'll see it all. Show him what he missed."

Ghanima's eyes widened, the suggestion sinking in slowly. "You mean, as revenge?"

"Not just revenge, but love. Make him understand leaving you was a mistake."

She nodded, knowing now how to bring herself comfort and distraction.

Bull nodded now, "and don't worry about anyone discovering your pregnancy. They'll figure it out eventually, but until I'll keep it a secret. Leliana may know, but I'll make it perfectly clear she isn't to tell anyone."

"Thank you." Ghanima wrapped her arms around him as best she could before pulling away and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you've helped." That said she walked way, letting the cool air bring down the swelling in her eyes.

Bull looked on, smiling to himself. When certain she was out of earshot, "in the meantime I'll do my best to find that son of a bitch. I may be Tal-Vashoth, but that doesn't mean I'm without my resources."


End file.
